US upgrades Pakistan on 'human trafficking index'
Washington, June 30 : The US has moved Pakistan from a watch list to another group of countries that have taken significant steps to curb human trafficking, a report has revealed.
"The government of Pakistan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so," Dawn news quoted the State Department report as saying on Friday.
"The government demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, therefore, Pakistan was upgraded to Tier 2."
Tier 2 on the State Department's list includes countries that do not fully comply with these minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance.
The move comes two days after an international financial watchdog placed Pakistan on its monitoring list - known as the "grey list" - for allowing terrorist groups to collect funds.
"Modern slavery has no place in the world, and I intend to ensure, through diplomatic engagement and increased action, that the United States government's leadership in combating this global threat is sustained in the years to come," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo while releasing the report.
The report notes that the Pakistan government demonstrated increasing efforts by raising the number of victims it identified and investigations and prosecutions of sex trafficking, Dawn reported.
The provincial government of Punjab increased investigations, prosecutions, and convictions for bonded labour, the country's largest human trafficking problem.
The governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh reported operating two additional women shelters and three additional child protection units, respectively.
The report, however, points out the Pakistan government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas including the overall law enforcement efforts on labour trafficking remained inadequate compared with the scale of the problem.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
